


Foundations

by stopwatch_plz (immiscibility)



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:46:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immiscibility/pseuds/stopwatch_plz





	Foundations

“I think they’ve had another fight,” Sharrkan said to Masrur, rather stating the obvious as they watched Ja’far storm past Sinbad with barely a look towards his king and friend.

Masrur watched the adviser stalk down the corridor away from them, robes swishing against his ankles. “I wonder what it was this time,” the Fanalis queried aloud, his words coloured with concern and they watched Sinbad let a rare show of frustration cloud his face as he looked at Ja’far’s retreating back before noticing the two men nearby. Settling his expression into one of neutrality, Sinbad strode past them in the opposite direction to Ja’far, and gave a short nod in their direction, not meeting their eyes. 

The summer had been long and hot so far, and tempers had been fraying both inside and outside the palace. Sindria was still a young country, and while no-one had expected everything to go smoothly, it seemed that nowhere were tensions running higher than at the top. The gruellingly hot days never seemed to end, and doing anything seemed to take more effort than usual - although, for Ja’far, every task seemed to leave him frustrated, hot and miserable. After yet another failed attempt at getting Sinbad to understand the basics of their import/export records he’d given up and, rather embarrassingly, all but flounced out of the office. Over a day later and he was still in feeling put out, and the apology he should have said to Sinbad hours ago still refused to come out of his mouth. Every time he saw the man, the words got stuck in his throat and he became irrationally angry at Sinbad’s inability to grasp even the easiest of theories. 

“Stupid king,” he muttered to himself as his pace began to slow as he suddenly realised that he had been walking without paying attention. Looking up, he saw he had taken himself to the small water feature in one of the courtyards at the palace, and he walked over to sit at the edge of the pool. It was one of his favourite places to go to, when he needed to think or just get away from other people; he still found it very difficult to be patient with people, even - no, _especially_ \- Sinbad. He frowned at the memory of the man quite obviously not bothering to pay attention to what Ja’far was trying to teach him. _Like it’s some kind of game!_ he thought with an annoyed snort.

His thoughts were broken by a soft splashing sound, and as he looked down he saw that the he was being watched by the group of koi carp that called the pool their home. The fish were huge, probably encouraged in their growth by the bread that Ja’far kept feeding them on the sly, and he felt a bit guilty hoping it wouldn’t affect their ability to swim - but it was nice to spend time with another living creature that didn’t make him frustrated for once. Ja’far let his hand trail in the water, and gave a small smile when the bravest of them swam up to nibble at his fingers.

“Sorry, nothing for you this time. I suspect I don’t taste very nice anyway,” he said apologetically.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Ja’far looked up with surprise, and flush crept up his face, as he saw Sinbad leaning against an upright framing one of the entrances, a sheepish smile on his face. “What do you want?” Ja’far asked, his tone a bit sharper than he meant it to be - in part to hide his embarrassment at Sinbad’s words - but he didn’t retract it.

“To apologise,” Sinbad said as he walked slowly into the yard. “May I sit with you?”

Ja’far bit back the temptation to say no, to tell Sinbad to leave him alone to steep in his anger, and instead he gave a curt nod and turned his attention back to the fish. The had initially swum away at Sinbad’s voice, but were now coming back to see if Ja’far had any food for them this time.

“They’re getting huge!” Sinbad said with wide eyes as he peered into the water. “Maybe we could train them to do tricks and we could sell tickets for people to watch.”

Ja’far felt the corner of his mouth tug upwards at the thought, and then scowled. He wasn’t going to let Sinbad off that easily.

“I could probably train them to balance the palace books. Maybe they’d make good rulers too.”

“Ow, that hurts - threatening to stage a coup to replace me with some fish! Though I’m not sure they’d be able to sit on a throne for very long...”

“Sounds like someone else I know.”

Sinbad visibly winced. “Aah, alright, I probably deserved that.” He paused for a moment. “And, umm, everything else.” 

Ja’far looked up, and saw Sinbad looking at him, his expression earnest and a little sad, and he sighed. “You drive me crazy sometimes, Sin.” He dropped his fingers back into the water and watched the ripples fan out across the water.

“I know,” Sinbad replied, looking guilty. “Sorry. I am trying!”

“Yes, you are very trying!” Ja’far said as he looked up and didn’t fight the smile from tugging at his mouth this time, and he watched Sinbad do the same.

“Ah, what would I do without you, Ja’far?”

“Probably lose your entire kingdom within a week.”

“Good point.” Sinbad moved up slightly until their shoulders were touching, and he tilted his head sideways to rest it against Ja’far. “I really do appreciate your help, you know? I’m just... better at actions than words.”

Ja’far sighed and slipped an arm around Sinbad’s waist. “I know. And I’m a terrible teacher and boss everyone around and get frustrated when things don’t go the way I mean them to.” He thought for a moment. “What the hell are we doing?”

“Learning from our mistakes, at the moment,” Sinbad replied. “But soon... Soon this will be our country - a safe country for anyone who wants it. So I can put up with your bossiness and moods, if you can put up with my inability to pay attention and tendency to drink too much?” 

Ja’far gave a small snort of amusement as he looked up at the late-afternoon sky. “I’ll try my best,” he said with a sideways glance, and Sinbad smiled.

“That’s all I will ever ask of you.”


End file.
